Nifty ekes out slender gains; manages to hold 8,750 level

Barometer 50 share index- CNX Nifty - amidst a volatile session ended the last trading day of the truncated week on a positive note with a gain of just two points as surge in lenders such as State Bank of India were offset by profit-taking in some of the recent outperformers. The sentiment got some support with a report from Fitch, wherein it retained India's credit outlook at 'stable' saying although 'dynamism' is back in the economy translation of reforms into higher growth would depend upon actual implementation. On the global front, Asian stock markets mostly ended higher tracking overnight gains on Wall Street while loan payment of 450 million euros by Greece also aided market sentiment. Meanwhile, the European counters traded firmly in early trades, extending the previous day's gains as a weaker single currency boosts companies' exports from the eurozone.

Back home, the nifty made a negative start as participants took to profit-booking after five sessions of gains and ahead of IIP data to be released later in the day. Index of Industrial Production (IIP) data for February is expected to inch higher to 3.5-3.6 percent due to favourable base effect. The index traded below the neutral line for most part of the day’s trade, lacking any significant upside triggers as investors engaged themselves in few stocks. Traders have overlooked Fitch retaining India's credit outlook at ‘stable’ as it said that although “dynamism” is back in the economy translation of reforms into higher growth would depend upon actual implementation. However, the frontline index managed to pare the losses and rise above the neutral line in the dying hours of trade and settled in close proximity with previous closing levels. The NSE’s 50-share broadly followed index Nifty, settled with single digit gains below the crucial 8,800 support level.

The coming week is truncated again. After a sharp recovery during last two weeks, the market will look at consolidating its gains unless some major triggers come in from the global market. Investors have started eyeing corporate earnings which is likely to be the next immediate trigger for the markets as companies are expected to report Jan-March earnings starting next week.

The top gainers from the F&O segment were Reliance Communications, Century Textiles & Industries and GMR Infrastructure. On the other hand, the top losers were Cipla, Just Dial and Zee Entertainment Enterprises. In the index options segment, maximum OI continues to be seen in the 9000-8800 calls and 8400-8300 puts indicating the expected trading range. In today's session, the 8800, 8900 and 9000 Call strikes saw addition of 5.95, 0.99 and 0.44 lakh shares, respectively. On the other hand, 8600, 8500 and 8300 Put strikes saw addition of 1.80, 3.73 and 1.89 lakh shares, respectively.

The India Volatility Index (VIX), a gauge for market's short term expectation of volatility decreased by 1.13% and reached 14.25. The 50-share CNX Nifty was up by 2.05 points or 0.02% to settle at 8,780.35.

Nifty April 2015 futures closed at 8811.45 on Friday at a premium of 31.10 points over spot closing of 8,780.35, while Nifty May 2015 futures ended at 8856.20 at a premium of 75.85 points over spot closing. Nifty April futures saw an addition of 0.04 million (mn) units, taking the total outstanding open interest (OI) to 19.11 million (mn) units. The near month derivatives contract will expire on April 30, 2015.

From the most active contracts, State Bank of India April 2015 futures traded at a premium of 0.20 points at 286.05 compared with spot closing of 285.85. The number of contracts traded were 26,182.

ICICI Bank April 2015 futures traded at a premium of 2.00 points at 320.20 compared with spot closing of 318.20. The number of contracts traded were 16,423.

Reliance Communications April 2015 futures traded at a premium of 0.85 points at 72.35 compared with spot closing of 71.50. The number of contracts traded were 37,209.

Reliance Industries April 2015 futures traded at a premium of 2.90 points at 906.90 compared with spot closing of 904.00. The number of contracts traded were 34,054.

Axis Bank April 2015 futures traded at a premium of 4.10 points at 570.60 compared with spot closing of 566.50. The number of contracts traded were 20,668.

Among Nifty calls, 8900 SP from the April month expiry was the most active call with an addition of 0.09 million open interests. Among Nifty puts, 8700 SP from the April month expiry was the most active put with a contraction of 0.09 million open interests. The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 9000 SP (4.62 mn) and that for Puts was at 8,500 SP (5.13 mn).  The respective Support and Resistance levels of Nifty are: Resistance 8800.63--- Pivot Point 8767.12--- Support --- 8746.83.

The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) finally stood at 1.32 for April month contract. The top five scrips with highest PCR on OI were MRF (2), Mindtree (1.32), Dr. Reddy's Laboratories (1.25), M&M (1.20) and Mcleod Russel India (1.15). 

Among most active underlying, Reliance Industries witnessed a contraction of 0.93 million of Open Interest in the April month futures contract, followed by State Bank of India witnessing a contraction of 4.85 million of Open Interest in the April month contract; Wockhardt witnessed an addition of 0.34 million of Open Interest in the April month contract, Reliance Communications witnessed a contraction of 3.08 million of Open Interest in the April month contract and IDFC witnessed a contraction of 0.15 million of Open Interest in the April month's future contract.